DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 5/6/2024. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the China 202420946586.X application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bolivar (8,150,246). Bolivar discloses a water heating device (10), including a first heating cavity (124); and at least one second heating cavity (130); wherein the at least one second heating cavity is provided side by side at a side of the first heating cavity (SEE Figures 1 & 2); a lower end of the first heating cavity and a lower end of each of the at least one second heating cavity are each axially and “insertedly” provided with a heater (126, 132); an upper end of the first heating cavity is provided with a first connector (50) configured to allow water to pass through; an end of the first connector is connected to a water inlet pipe (42); an upper end of each of the at least one second heating cavity is provided with a second connector (90) configured to allow water to pass through; the first connector (50) is connected to the second connector (90) of one of the at least one second heating cavity adjacent to the first connector through a bypass pipe (136); the lower end of the first heating cavity is communicated with each of the at least one second heating cavity through a communicating pipe (128) provided on a side of the lower end of the first heating cavity (SEE Figures 1 & 2); and the second connector on a last one of the at least one second heating cavity along a water flow direction is communicated with a water outlet pipe (98). In re claim 6, Bolivar discloses that a bore diameter of the bypass pipe (136) is smaller than a bore diameter of the first connector and a bore diameter of each second connector (as per Figures 1 & 2). In re claim 7, Bolivar discloses that both the water inlet pipe (42) and the water outlet pipe (98) are configured to extend in a direction toward the lower end of the first heating cavity (as indicated by the interior volumes of 124 & 130). In re claim 8, Bolivar implicitly discloses that the bore diameter of the bypass pipe is smaller than a half of a bore diameter of the communicating pipe; and the first connector, the second connector and the communicating pipe are configured to fit each other in bore diameter (SEE Figures 1 & 2, which illustrate a size disparity meeting the limitations of the claimed invention).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY A WILSON whose telephone number is (571)272-4882. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 7:00am-4:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at 571-272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY A WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762 August 22, 2026
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